Today we headed out toward the bogs and rivers of northern Lake County, MN not far from where I live. The goal, as it often is, was to find some Somatochlora and see what other dragonflies we could scare up. It didn’t take long.

Just a few miles up the road we stopped near a small river. I found one Somatochlora minor (ocellated emerald) dead in the road.  I have become pretty good at spotting roadkilled dragonflies, even when driving.  I once found a new Somatochlora hineana (Hine’s emerald) site near St Ignace, Michigan by finding a roadkill. With a little practice, dragonfly wings can be seen sparkling and flopping about in the wind as other cars pass.  I also saw some more emeralds flying overhead but couldn’t get my net on them.

Up past the Cloquet River is the real Somatochlora Country, where the wilder country that emeralds love really begins.  In the space of a few miles I found Somatochlora walshii (brush-tipped emerald), Somatochlora kennedyi, (Kennedy’s emerald), and the prize of the day, a female Somatochlora forcipata (forcipate emerald).

Somatochlora forcipata, the forcipate emerald

This is one of the least commonly seen emeralds and is considered rare by some. I believe they are merely more difficult to find. They are certainly uncommon, but not rare. This one was captured as it oviposited in a small roadside ditch puddle that was quite unremarkable. The primary breeding habitat might be sphagnum pools in nearby bogs, but I’ve also seen them repeatedly in areas where sphagnum is scarce or entirely absent, like my backyard at houses in both Minnesota and Wisconsin.

©2017 Wayne P. Steffens